Sunday: The First Day
So today was my first day of The JASON Project and you know what? It's awesome. Today I got to meet all the other Argonauts that I will be working with for the next week. They're all really cool. That's probably because we all love science. When we all got to my hometown, Washington D.C., we went out for our JASON briefing. We went to the Albert Einstein statue and a couple other places too. Man I can't wait for tomorrow, it's going to be amazing! Well I'll see you all tomorrow. I'm off to bed for our early wake up tomorrow.

Monday: JASON is Amazing
Do you have any idea what we did today for JASON? I did things that I never thought I would do in my lifetime. The day started out with the early morning. We went to our first JASON meeting, and it was filmed, I was on camera. It was kind of nerve racking but eventually I'll get over it.

After our meeting, we went to the Department of Energy and it was cool because we got to speak with a major executive there who showed us new energy technology: the "super" hybrid car and the hydrogen powered car. The hybrid car ran on ethanol, gas and electricity. The hydrogen-powered car ran on water and produced oxygen as a by-product instead of emitting CO2 like a gas car. They both looked good, but they were SUVs, I'm not a big fan.

Then we went to the Washington Monument to get a historical tour of Washington D.C. We met Ranger Kelly and he gave us one of the most in-depth tours I have ever been on. We went to the Washington Memorial, the World War II memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Lincoln memorial. I lived in D.C., and have seen these things over 100 times and knew only 1/6 of what Ranger Kelly knew and told us. Now I'm here in my room with Joey writing to you guys about my day. Well Adios!!!

Tuesday: Scientific Roller Coasters
Today was our trip to Six Flags Amusement Park. This was really cool because I have never been to Six Flags before. It was fun and I had a blast. The bus ride there was great because it was a time to connect and do some scientific research. Oh yeah, that's how nerdy we are, but I'm not ashamed and neither are the other Argos. In fact I think were quite proud of that.

When we got to Six Flags we were briefed on the experiments we were going to test. The bad thing about cameras is that when they ask you to do something you have to do it. Because I was being filmed on an a rollercoaster that went upside-down, I had to ride it. This was the first time in my life I had ridden a rollercoaster that goes upside-down. I was scared beyond scared but I went on it, and lets just say the sound guy was lucky that I didn't have the microphone hooked to me, I was screaming! But it was fun and I ended up going on the roller coaster of all roller coasters, Superman. I almost had tunnel vision on that one. Argo Bryan found out he had a magic pen. As we were going down a hill on the Superman his pen fell out of his pocket. It was literally floating in the air for a second. Then the coaster went up and it fell. But then on our way out we found it on the walk way to the exit. It was awesome.

Wednesday: Baseball!
Today we did a lot. We started with an early wake up so we could get a tour of the Nationals Stadium and see how energy-efficient it was. It was so interesting, and it had us asking so many questions that not all of them could be answered. Also on the tour we got to go in the press box where they broadcast the game and go in the players' dugout. I put my finger prints in those places. It was cool because they will always be there.

After we were done, we went to go talk to Congressman Mollohan. He is the Congressman from West Virginia and he supports the coal industry. We got to ask him questions about his views and what he plans to do with the coal industry. After we finished up I got to give him an honorary JASON shirt. I accidently gave him the new shirt I was supposed to change into and I was wearing the one I was suppose to give him!

Finally at the end of the day we went to a baseball game, my first one. It was awesome watching the game and hanging out with my newly acquired friends. We've only known each other for a few days and yet it feels like we've known each other for years. I truly love it.

Thursday: The Power Plant
Wow, today was amazing! We're in West Virginia and our first stop was the National Energy Techologies LAB (NETL.) We all started to wake up as we got the tour of NETL. I think that my favorite part about the building was the parts where we wore our goggles. One of the places was using sound waves to make a fire smaller. That was really cool, I had never heard of doing something like that before. The next place we went to was the coal processing plant. After a hot day, we got to walk into an air conditioned heaven…at least it felt like heaven.

After a presentation we got our tour of how the facility worked and it was quite interesting. Not many people (even adults) get to see how this place runs. In the tour we got to go inside to where the coal is processed. It was about 110 degrees F inside there. It was even hotter for me because I forgot to take of my fleece. We got to wear some cool helmets and talk through walkie-talkies that looked like telephone headsets. They were so cool….because we were so excited about using them we accidently jammed up the channel we were on. When we were done we talked a bit, to clear up any questions, then we left. Later on we went to get dinner. It was really nice and emotional. The Argos realized that we all might never see each other again. I understood why they were so sad. Our week long friendship was something different and unique, in a good way.

Friday: Rafting Home
Well we're back in D.C. now. The first thing we did in the morning was check out of the hotel in West Virginia and go whitewater rafting! I've been tubing before but I've never done rafting, so I was really excited to go. Unfortunately it wasn't as intense as I wanted it to be but we had a cool guide, he was called "Buddy." He was funny and really let us get the most out of rafting. He also had his hair really grown out and that was really cool.

Saturday: Our Last Full Day Together
Today is my last day to write to you. We finished our interviews today, I think I messed up but that's okay…I hope they have editing. Oh and we did some more bonding activities. Well, readers it's been fun and I hope you enjoyed our adventures…see ya…it …was…fun!

So, there it is: life as an Argonaut. It's a big life and I willingly embrace it. Iope you enjoyed the ride. It is an experience that I'll never forget. I challenge you to gain this experience too. –Argonaut Toba